Matawalle Under Fire For Claiming ‘Not All Bandits Are Criminals’ In Resurfaced Video

The video, which circulated on Tuesday, has triggered outrage on social media.
His past soft stance on bandits and recent opaque schoolgirl rescue fuel criticism.
Incident unfolds as kidnappings surge across the North.

A resurfaced video of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, insisting that “not all bandits are criminals” has triggered a wave of public outrage amid escalating abductions across northern Nigeria.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the video — originally recorded on February 18, 2021, when Matawalle served as governor of Zamfara State — began circulating widely on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, prompting fresh scrutiny of his long-criticised approach to banditry and renewed questions over his suitability for a top defence portfolio at a time of worsening national insecurity.

"Not all b@nd!ts are cr!m!nals." – Minister of State for Defense in 2021 pic.twitter.com/26v3wBad8M

— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) December 2, 2025

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In the clip, Matawalle argued that many armed groups operating in the North were victims of societal injustice rather than perpetrators of crime. “Not all of them are criminals,” he said after a meeting with then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

“If you investigate what is happening, and what made them to take the laws into their hands, some of them, sometimes were cheated by so-called the vigilante group… They normally go to their settlements and destroy property and take their animals. They did not have anyone to speak with, so sometimes, they go for revenge.”

He further accused some security operatives of exacerbating hostilities, claiming that military operations often destroyed the property and cattle of herder settlements. “When there are military operations, the military will go and destroy their property and animals. They are angry with such actions sometimes,” Matawalle said, urging political leaders to “sit down with them and understand what is the genesis.”

The remarks were controversial even in 2021, but critics say they are far more troubling today. Many argue that the statement, resurfacing at a time when armed groups continue to abduct schoolchildren, motorists and villagers, exposes a pattern of excessive sympathy toward violent actors.

This guy need to resign bcos there's no how you can defeat bandits with this kind of mentality. https://t.co/pskRpiWvZm

— ARINZECHUKWU (@arinzejj) December 2, 2025

Contrary to Matawalle’s claims that bandits were driven to violence by injustice, investigations at the time, including reporting by Premium Times, found that the criminality was largely financially motivated, often tied to artisanal mining and ransom economies rather than a mere cycle of reprisals.

During his tenure as governor, Matawalle was repeatedly accused of adopting appeasement tactics, including a controversial pledge to give bandits cows in exchange for their weapons.

Now, as Minister of State for Defence, the old comments are being interpreted in the light of recent events, particularly the opaque rescue of 24 abducted schoolgirls in Kebbi State last week. Matawalle announced their release and insisted no ransom was paid, but the absence of any arrests has fuelled speculation that a ransom deal may have been quietly negotiated — a claim the minister has strongly denied.

This latest wave of criticism comes as Nigeria grapples with a sharp uptick in kidnappings. In the last two weeks alone, armed groups have abducted worshippers in Kwara, 315 schoolchildren in Niger State, and multiple residents across communities in the North-West and North-Central — heightening fears that the banditry crisis is sliding further out of control.